Shaun Marsh begins slow climb back into the international arena

SHAUN Marsh has overcome bans for drinking, constant injuries and a Test series average of just 2.83 to make an unlikely international return tonight.

The elegant left-hander will have the ultimate Australia Day celebration when he resumes playing for his country in a Twenty20 match against Sri Lanka at ANZ Stadium.

Marsh, 29, made himself irresistible to the selectors after dominating the Big Bash as its leading run-scorer.

Australia's Twenty20 captain George Bailey was uncertain whether Marsh would open the batting, where he plays for the Perth Scorchers, or bat at three behind Dave Warner and Aaron Finch.

Either way, Bailey was delighted to have Marsh back in the side as one of six changes to the team which made the World Twenty20 semi-finals little more than three months ago.

"What I'm hoping for Shaun is he stays on the park for a little while (injury free) and plays exactly the same way he has been for the Scorchers and the same way he bats when he's over in India (with the IPL) and that's to me a lot of freedom," Bailey said before training at ANZ Stadium yesterday.

"He's very calculated in the way he bats. He's a beautiful striker of the ball and very intelligent in the way he sets up his innings whether chasing or setting a target.

"I think a big part of that for Shaun and his own mind is getting some consistent game time and staying on the park.

"Everyone I've talked to, he's obviously been in great form and mentally he's in a good place so it's laid out for him to have a really good series."

Given Australia's dearth of batting talent Marsh could be a bolter for the Ashes if he finishes the Sheffield Shield season well.

He has a lot of ground to make up. In three games earlier this season, Marsh scored just 16 runs at an average of 10 and was dropped from the WA side.

It came after he and younger brother Mitchell had been banned for a game after drinking during the Champions League in South Africa -- a fiasco which saw Scorchers and WA captain Marcus North resign.

WA has four Shield matches remaining over the next two months for Marsh to prove he can be cricket’s Lazarus.

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